Victims of El Salvador's war receive apology

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - President Mauricio Funes has apologized to the victims of El Salvador's brutal civil war and recognized the state's role in human-rights violations.

The leftist president also announced the creation of a commission to prepare moral and material reparations for abuses committed during the 12-year war that pitted right-wing governments against Marxist guerrillas.

Funes spoke Saturday on the 18th anniversary of the 1992 signing of the accord that ended the civil war.

Funes, the first president from the party founded by the rebels, said members of the armed forces and security agencies, as well as groups organized by the state, committed human-rights violations and abuses of power.